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Saturday, January 14, 2012

Guerlain Cruel Gardenia Meteorites Review, Photos, Swatches

Guerlain's Spring 2012 collection is very feminine and soft, contrasting soft pinks and elegant blacks. Today I'll be showing you the Cruel Gardenia Meteorites Illuminating Powder, $67, which is a limited edition product that is already sold out on Nordstrom.com, where I purchased mine. Run, don't walk, to your local Guerlain counter to pick this up!

Look at the iridescent glitters!

I figured I should address the packaging and the differences between the Meteorites I owned before I got into the swatches. It is a screw-top compact made of lightweight plastic. It is more secure than I initially thought it would be. The other two Meteorites flanking Cruel Gardenia are my Meteorites Perles finishing powder (shimmery) and my Meterorites Pressed Powder (matte), both permanent. I love how Guerlain added variety to the Meteorites line-up, makes for more interesting photos!

And before you say the star of the show, Cruel Gardenia, is too similar to Laura Mercier's Rose Rendezvous from the last Holiday collection.. stop. The raised petal edges are present in both products but Cruel Gardenia is one large flower as opposed to multiple little flowers. There are small shimmers infused throughout both products. When swatched, however, the products are entirely different in color.

You'd think pink highlighters like Cruel Gardenia are dime a dozen and that I would have one in my collection but interestingly enough, I do not have anything quite like it. Here are more comparison photos so you can more accurately judge the differences yourself.

Texturally, Rose Rendezvous and Cruel Gardenia are very similar. They are both silky and smooth. Rose Rendezvous may be a touch more creamy and pigmented and it is a bronzy rose while Cruel Gardenia is a pale pink. It is not so pale that it would look stark again darker skin tones, though. I swatched Edward Bess' South of France highlighter next to the other two since it looks the most similar to Cruel Gardenia in the pan. You will see, however, that it looks nothing like Cruel Gardenia or Rose Rendezvous because they have slightly metallic finishes as opposed to South of France's satin finish.

Bottom Line: I love all my Meteorites so I cannot say which is my favorite of the three since I have specific uses for each product, but Cruel Gardenia is a perfect pink illuminator. I was thinking of purchasing the Dior Shimmer Star in pink but now that I own this, no need. Make Cruel Gardenia yours before it's gone!